hours until they could snag up the play-off tickets. and then like that, in a matter of minutes, gone. almost. >> national fans, the wait is over. >> reporter: after clinching a play-off spot for the first time since 1933, the washington nationals play-off tickets went on sale at 10:00 this morning online and by phone. >> there are currently no tickets available at this time. >> reporter: and in a matter of minutes, sold out. this according to an operator for tickets.com. >> yes! i'm disappointed. you should have seen all the people who walked away and limped away from the window. >> reporter: margo humphrey can hardly believe it. >> they're gone. everything is gone. kaput. >> reporter: but you're not completely out of luck. internet sites like stub hub are stocked. >> those who want to come, will come. those who whine about no play-off tickets on sale, watch it on tv. see me on tv.

i'll be there. >> reporter: the reasonably priced, to the high-dollar seats. >> i'm going to support my team. i'm going to spend the money that is required to get a ticket. >> reporter: and albert elliott said he will go hungry before he misses out on seeing the nats in all their glory. >> carry your lunch. that's what i'm going to do. cut out something. >> reporter: everything to get some tickets to see the nats in the play-offs. tickets.com tells us that there are oftentimes tickets on reserve or held back, so they urge customers to continue checking their site and calling them for any updates that may become available. we are live at nats park. we'll see you again at 6:00. back to you in the studio. >> erica gonzalez, thank you. the nationals play tonight. tomorrow when they play, we could see bad weather. doug kammerer joins us with that. >> i think that game tomorrow at 1:00, i think the storms, if we do get any, will come after the game.

but there is an after-game concert that we are a little bit worried about. we'll talk about that a little bit later. 79 degrees right now, with sunshine. winds out of the south at 8 miles per hour. it is a gorgeous, gorgeous afternoon. 81 in leesburg. 80 right now in fredericksburg. 76 along the chesapeake out there towards annapolis. radar showing clear skies here. look back to the west. showers and thunderstorms moving through portions of the ohio river valley and around the chicago land area. we are going to see that area of precipitation move towards us during the day tomorrow. and yes, we could see strong to severe storms. let's go down to northern prince william county today. right along i-66, gainesville area, manassas, middleburg, loudoun county, about 75 degrees. a beautiful evening. tomorrow morning, waking up to a temperature of around 60. so not quite as cool tomorrow. but boy, does it get cold in the next couple of days. we'll talk about that in just a

mist. >> thank you, doug. from one battleground state to another, president obama is back from florida, and now campaigning in virginia. he took another swipe at mitt romney secretly taped comments. as julie carey shows us, some of romney's supporters had a response to that in woodbridge. >> reporter: from the stage on the potomac national's infield, president barack obama started his rally with a hat tip to the current baseball club. >> i want to congratulate the washington nationals for bringing play-off baseball to d.c. >> reporter: but the president quickly turned his attention to his republican opponent, ridiculing the secretly recorded comments mitt romney made at a fund-raiser in which he told donors that 47% of americans were dependent on government, some saw themselves as victims and back the president. >> i don't believe we could get very far with leaders who write off half the nation as a bunch of victims. i don't see a lot of victims in the crowd today.

i see hard working virginians. >> reporter: some obama supporters also seized on romney's remarks. this family who runs a small business in the county count themselves among the 47%. >> that was offensive. for our campaign, it just brought us out. now more people want to vote. >> a lot of people are really moved by the president, what he's done for this country. he counts us all. he doesn't mark off 47% and say we don't care about you. we don't need your vote. he cares about everybody. 100% of america. >> reporter: the virginia republicans who waited outside the stadium to counter the president's message say his economic policies have been wrong for all americans. >> this campaign is about barack obama's record. it's about whether he has fulfilled his promise to create jobs and bring down unemployment, and he hasn't fulfilled that promise. that's the major concern in prince william county. >> reporter: president obama's 15th political event in virginia so far in 2012. undoubtedly that number will grow as election day nears.

julie carey, news4. mitt romney's most recent tax returns are out today. in 2011, romney and his wife, ann, had taxable income of about $13.7 million. mostly from investments. they paid about $1.9 million in federal taxes. campaign officials say the romneys paid an effective tax rate of 14.1%. the romneys donated more than $14 million to charity. meanwhile, romney is at a campaign event in las vegas right now. this is his sixth visit to nevada since april. republicans say his remarks will focus on the economy, jobs, and the housing market. unemployment and foreclosure rates are both well above the national average. now, a new update on that breaking news about romney's wife, ann. her plane made an emergency landing in colorado. smoke filled the cabin. she is said to be okay. we'll stay on top of this story and bring you updates throughout the evening.

to live this long and die this way makes a tragic situation seem even worse. an 89-year-old man was hit by a school bus yesterday while he crossed the street. pat collins is live where it happened in an nonedale, virginia. did the riders see what happened? >> reporter: there were high school students on the bus when it happened. they weren't injured. but it's a sight they will not soon forget. gallos road, what happened at this annendale intersection has people upset. >> it's a dangerous intersection. >> a tragic story. >> i feel horrible for him. >> reporter: the victim here was 89 years old. he lived at the evergreen senior apartments right up the street. and despite his age, they say he got around a lot. yesterday he was walking down columbia pike. he was crossing the street here

at gallows road. a school bus moved into the cross walk and struck mr. an. he was taken to the hospital and died a short time later. >> to be killed by a school bus at 89, i feel bad for the driver of the school bus, and i feel bad for his family. we don't really need that around here. >> it's sad for both parties, really. because you can glance away and not see someone. but you're supposed to be paying attention when you drive. >> especially a bus. >> especially a bus. >> a school bus. >> a school bus. >> reporter: the driver of the bus identified as 30-year-old christina fernandez. they say she's charged with failure to pay time and attention. that's a $30 traffic ticket. they say she's been a school bus driver for 11 years and that she has an excellent driving record. she's currently on leave. now, police say the accident is

still under investigation. more charges are possible. live in fairfax, pat collins, news4. prince george's county police went door to door today handing out fliers after a brutal attack on an elderly man while he was waiting for the bus. it happened early saturday morning in the 3800 block of blatensburg road. the suspect walked up to the 72-year-old man and demanded his wallet. when he refused, police say the man began beating the man with a baseball bat. breaking his arm and causing head trauma. officers passed out a sketch today of the suspect. police are trying to figure out why an armed man went into an office building in downtown pittsburgh and took a man hostage. the 22-year-old gunman posted photos on facebook with a message saying he had lost everything. and that people didn't have to worry about him anymore. his friends responded with messages urging him to end the matter peacefully. eventually the gunman

surrendered. the hostage wasn't injured. he owns a company that runs an employee benefits program. but it is not clear yet why he was targeted. the shuttle "endeavour" just landed at los angeles international airport. take a look after a five-hour aerial tour around california landmarks. the shuttle left edwards air force base this morning hitching a ride atop a boeing 747. they tried that trick here you'll recall. crowds gathered near the golden gate bridge watch "endeavour" soar for the last time. it also passed by the hollywood sign, and over disneyland. during its 25 missions, "endeavour" spent 299 days in space, orbited earth about 4,700 times and racked up, get this, 123 million miles. the shuttle will be on display at the california science center in l.a. >> traffic is back to normal in downtown d.c. at washington circle after a hazmat situation shut down part of the sick will late this morning. fire officials say some kind of

mineral oil started spouting up from the ground. crews mopped it up and put sand on the ground. it's not clear exactly what caused that leak. metro's weekend closures will only cause minor delays this time. the red line buses will replace trains between grosvenor and friendship heights. bethesda and medical center stations will be closed. there will also be singing tracking on the orange line. should be done by monday morning. getting started on news4 at 5:00 tonight, the cold, hard facts. the latest study linking soda to big weight gains. a company makes it easy to hail a cab in the district could get driven out of town. people camped out to get their hands on the latest edition of the iphone. what separates this 5 from the 4.

more evidence tonight linking soda and other sugary drinks to weight gain. >> a series of studies all published in the new england journal of medicine called that evidence rock solid. as erica edwards reports, your drinking habits are just as important as genetics. 15-year-old maggie has entered a weight loss program at boston children's hospital. her goal is to lose about 40 pounds so she can get back to cheerleading and softball. >> i want to be able to run as fast as i can to the bases. >> reporter: her first step is to cut out sodas. she had been drinking about a liter a day. >> sugary beverages can affect body weight quite quickly, perhaps more so than any other single food product. >> reporter: dr. ludwig overseas maggie's weight loss program.

teens gained four pounds fewer than their peers when they replaced sugary beverages with calorie-free drinks for one year. >> it's pronounced among hispanics during the first year. >> reporter: in a statement response to the new study, the american beverage association points out, we know and science supports that obesity is not caused by a single food or beverage. it's true, obesity can run in families like maggie's. >> my brother's overweight, both of my parents were overweight. >> reporter: new evidence from the harvard public health finds people who are genetically predisposed to becoming obese are more likely to do so if they drink sugar-sweetened beverages on a regular basis. it was about 30% for those with a family history, but who did not indulge in soft drinks. >> if they did drink soda, there was about a 300% risk of becoming obese. >> reporter: this implies people

with obesity genes may alter their fate simply by choosing healthier drinks. >> the american beverage association represents all of the major soda companies. it has launched an initiative to display the calories on the bottle or canned drink. we've got a lot going on outdoors this weekend. just to remind you. >> yeah, we do. >> you can handle it. >> i've got this. i've got it. broad shoulders right here. no problem at all. the nats game at 1:00 tomorrow. that should be fine. the redskins game, also 1:00 on sunday. no problems there. you will need a coat for that game. the nats play again at 1:05, somewhere in the 1:00 hour, they'll be fine, tooment all . if you have events tomorrow evening, that's where things get a little tricky. our beautiful brand-new camera from the gaylord national hotel. look at that shot.

potomac river right there. woodrow wilson bridge in the background. traffic's flowing good out there right now as you make your way out and about. looking good. temperatures sitting at 79 degrees. that's exactly where we are right now. winds out of the south at 8 miles an hour with plenty of sunshine. with that sunshine, it will continue for the next two hours before it makes its way down. 81 in leesburg right now. 80 in fredericksburg. radar picture showing we're all clear right now, as you would expect. you see the sunshine. not looking at any rain this evening. but the rain will come in during the day tomorrow. at least a chance of rain. the chance is fairly small. only about a 30% to 40% chance. any showers that do develop could be strong. like these storms right now in portions of illinois and indiana. this system making its way our way. the storm prediction center in

norman, oklahoma, has placed part of our area in a slight risk for severe thunderstorms. anytime we see this, we know that we have a chance for strong storms. notice, it does not include any of virginia, except for right along the potomac here. it does include d.c. and parts of maryland. that shows you how low of a risk we have in general. the farther north and east you live from washington, the better chance you have for strong storms. we could still see showers coming in here. here's the best news. nice weather here. here's our first frontal boundary. that one moves to the north. no worries about that one today. here comes the next one. this will move through very quickly, so even if we get showers and storms, they're not going to stick around all that long. maybe about a half an hour to an hour. then they're out of here. i do not expect a lot of power outages tomorrow. this will not be a repeat of what we've seen in the last couple of weekends. here's where it gets very interesting. the first full day of fall coming up on sunday, cool. i'm not just talking cool, it's going to be chilly out there for many of us. thisev ing, temperatures going to be nice.

nothing but warm temperatures tonight. don't expect any chilly numbers. 70 to 75. mostly clear skies. just great. here's what's going to happen the next few days. 86 degrees tomorrow. 70 on your sunday. but look at the overnight lows. 58 on sunday, not bad, but 51 on monday. i think some areas could be around 38, 39 degrees early monday morning. we're talking some of the coolest air we've seen. tuesday also looking very nice. great weather after tomorrow. most of tomorrow should be okay. just watch out for the storms. >> they vice president found the wa -- haven't found the warmer clothing yet. >> thanks, doug. when we come right back on news4 at 5:00, same-sex marriage takes center pulpit as reverend al sharpton joins a dozen clergy members to voice their opinions. we'll take you inside the urban haupted house. >> what is going on. in sports, time for friday

night football. introducing you to perhaps the most sought-after recruit in all of northern virginia. still ahead at 6:00, bad timing for blac

it's friday. what is that? >> high school football. >> there you go. >> let's go. >> our high school football game of the week is in ash burn, home of the redskins. all eyes will be on one of the prep players who looks like he could soon fit right in with the burgundy and gold. zachary, i heard this john allen kid is a beast. >> reporter: he is a beast, carol. defensive end, jonathan allen is one of the most dominant and highly recruited players to come out of this area in a long, long time. tonight he'll be strapping it up

for stonebridge, known around here as the belle of the berm. number 93 is the reason why. >> i've never seen a player play with the rage that he plays with. i mean, he is a mad, intense player. and he's been able to turn it down to where it doesn't hurt him now. so he's playing with that anger, that intensity. it's crazy. it really is. >> reporter: outside the halls, most high school athletes are nameless, faceless, dreamers to the outside world. but for jonathan allen, it's a constant fear of failure that has multi-million dollar coaches across the country dreaming he'll come to town. >> i feel like i'm improving every day. >> reporter: allen exploded on the scene as a raw but physically gifted 15-year-old at stonebridge high school.

by his junior season, the word was out. >> it really exploded. i got comments from oklahoma, alabama was calling, florida was calling. that's when i officially knew i had something going on here. >> reporter: before long, ashburn became a must-stop for every major college program. in the end, allen chose to go home. >> i was born in alabama. i grew up in alabama. so when they offered, i kind of had the idea i was going to go there. >> reporter: here in virginia, mickey thompson has been the head coach for more than 20 years. won a state championship and put guys in the nfl. where does he rank allen? >> i think he's the best one. he changes the whole game. i guarantee you right now, he's preparing right now. everything they do is, where is john allen, how do we block him. their whole week is spent on

john allen. >> that's a big thing. i'm confident we'll do good. i focus on my life, my dad. >> reporter: you've got to be going into this game, i'll do anything to win this football game. anything. >> they can hang. >> reporter: it's hard not to be impressed with that kid. jonathan allen headed to the national champion, alabama crimson tide next season. he'll be doing his thing tonight. on the offensive side of the ball, they've got ryan burns, who committed to go to stanford. he'll be back there throwing darts for them. carol, back to you. >> thanks, zack. a couple of blue chip guys on the same team. this area just produces marquee

talent. >> sounds like a fierce rivalry. >> yeah, it does, right? you can say, i remember when i first heard about him. >> exactly. we will. >> thank you, carol. next at 5:30 tonight, the mad dash to bring home the new iphone 5. i'm jackie bensen. i'll have the story coming up. the dispute between american airlines and its pilots causing a major

a fast forward through the headlines. this afternoon mitt romney released his tax returns for 2011. romney and his wife, ann, had taxable income of about $13.7 million, and paid nearly $2 million in federal taxes. campaign officials say the romneys paid an effective tax rate of 14.1%. and donated more than $4 million to charity. meanwhile, about an hour ago, ann romney's plane made an emergency landing in colorado.

smoke filled the cabin. the plane landed safely. everybody said to be okay. this is a picture that a romney representative just tweeted out. president obama is back campaigning in the battleground of virginia. he spoke to a crowd at the potomac national stadium in woodbridge. again, blasting his challenger, mitt romney, over his remarks about the 47% of americans who he says don't pay taxes. but virginia republicans were also there saying the president's policies have been wrong for 100% of americans. and be prepared to pay some big bucks, if you haven't already gotten a ticket and want to see the nats in postseason action. tickets sold out this morning in just a matter of minutes. sites like stub hub were offering them, but some are listed up to $10,000. now let's fast forward to the weather. you didn't pay that much yesterday, did you, doug? >> no, i'm not paying that much today, i won't pay them tomorrow. it's not happening.

what is happening, take a look at these numbers. great numbers right now. 79 degrees in washington. 77 in gaithersburg. 80 in richmond. up to the west and north, much cooler, 69 in columbus, 68 in state college. those types of temperatures will move in later this weekend. the first day of fall is tomorrow. fall officially begins at 10:49. back with a chance of the severe storms. sleek black sedans and taxi cabs. the d.c. council is set to consider new regulations that are not going over well with car companies like the very popular uuber. why they're so upset. >> reporter: the beeping of his iphone is what uuber driver needs a ride. the service privately owned sedans that are summoned directly by a smartphone app and paid for the same way has become very popular. >> we started our business because of uuber.

the client base, the way that uuber does business with its partners. we were able to start our business solely because of uuber. >> reporter: even before the sedan service became popular, it had drawn attention of the d.c. taxi cab commission. they claimed they're trying to legislate him out of business. >> you don't have 20 cars or more, you're out of business. so uuber partners with the companies, connects the riders to the drivers that are close to them. and if all of our partners, our hundreds of partners are out of business, so are we. >> reporter: one of the long-standing sticking points was the taxi cab's commission requirement that uuber provide customers with a paper receipt. they now say a text will be fine. d.c. taxi cab commissioner ron linten said the requirement has long been on the books and is not new legislation designed to put uuber out of business. >> they have not, with two

exceptions, made any effort to confer with us, to deal with us. i've never met anybody from uuber, except their attorney. >> reporter: uuber customers are closely following the legislative battle. >> the city's residents are speaking by using us so much. >> reporter: jackie bensing, news4. a d.c. man is facing charges for a bank robbery in prince george's county. 48-year-old reginald taylor held up the capitol one in bowie last night, shown here wearing a wig and dress. taylor is being charged with armed robbery, and assault. he's currently being held in the west virginia jail on an unrelated charge. police say he'll be extradited back to our area. maryland's marriage equality act is sparking debate tonight within the black church. pastors on both sides of the issue held dueling news

conferences today at the exact same time in different locations. some of the religious leaders say gay marriage is the civil rights issue of our time. news4's richard jordan is here with more. >> the pastors who support same-sex marriage say the fight is like a battle they have fought before, for african-americans to have equal rights. reverend coates from maryland leads a congregation and a movement. the highly controversial marriage equality is highlighting the point the two events held at the same time at two different locations from two opposing sides. reverend al sharpton speaking in support of gay marriage, while the coalition of african-american pastors calls the notion sinful. sharpton says gay marriage is not about religion, but civil rights. >> you cannot be for civil rights for african-americans, but not for gays and lesbians. >> reporter: but those against marriage equality say black

ministers sold out. the group claims african-american pastors are supporting gay marriage for financial gain. >> to lead a society downhill for money is sinful and it's wrong. and that's what they're doing. it's all about money. >> reporter: maryland voters will ultimately decide. but the pastors who favor gay marriage say there are some ministers urging voters to stay home on election day and skip out on their right to vote in order to stay neutral. pastors say that would defeat what other black leaders achieved. >> don't travel on martin luther king, make sure you're concerned about everybody having the right, for the black community does not own the civil rights movement. >> reporter: both sides say their campaigns will continue until election day. >> we will go across this country, especially the swing states, and support candidates who stand for marriage between a man and a woman.

>> reporter: the clergy members say they are prepared to go full core press on the marriage equality issue. those who support the measure say the initiative will not require anyone to perform a same-sex marriage. >> richard, thank you. consumer alert for hundreds of thousands of drivers. why several vehicles are not considered safe for the road. plus, massive payouts are finally on the way for victims

general motors is recalling more than 450,000 cars for possible gear shift problems. the recall includes the chevy malibu, the pontiac g-6, and saturn aura from 2007 through 2010. all of the affected vehicles have four-speed automatic transmissions. gm said the transmission shift cable could fracture and

separate, meaning if you put the car in park, it wouldn't actually be in gear. there have been four crashes as a result. but so far, no injuries. they bill themselves as the world's best courses, online and free. now the university of maryland is joining in. four courses from umd will soon be offered in an online education site. maryland is one of 33 colleges that has joined this consortium, including the university of virginia and johns hopkins. school officials warn that completing the courses online will not earn credit at the university of maryland. the victims of financier bernie madoff have money coming their way. the man overseeing the liquidation of madoff's firm said he has sent $2.5 billion to madoff's former clients. the average payment is about $2 million. the trustee recovered about $9 billion, but says thousands of investors lost more than $17 billion in madoff's ponzi

scheme. madoff is serving a 150-year prison term. straight ahead, at 5:00, a special event more than a year in the making on national p.o.w./m.i.a. recognition day. these participants take us inside a new haunted house in montgomery county, as it gets set to open. all right. listen to this. temperatures in the 80s. severe weather. temperatures in the 30s. is that enough for you to

the iphone 5 finally arrived today. customers lined up overnight to be one of the first to purchase the new smartphone. the iphone 5 is thinner, lighter and faster than the iphone 4s. it more than doubled the number for the iphone 4s when it was released last year.

scarlett johansen heads back to broadway for a revival of "cat on a hot tin roof." johansson earned her a best supporting actress tony. it's set to open in january. well, halloween is a little more than a month away, but let the haunting begin. a paranormal experience is set to open in rockville next friday. news4's angie gulf goes behind the scenes of the big scare. >> reporter: alfred hitchcock was a master of what you don't see scares you more. inspired justin watson to change the game of the good scare op the ground. >> we don't really get scared in the haunted houses. the operators of this, we don't get scared at haunted houses. we were like, why don't we make

a haunted house that scares us. >> reporter: one of five friends behind the haunted house in rockville. >> this is the zombie cage. >> reporter: a monstrous space packed with paranormal activity. 37,000 square feet of shear madness. 16 to 20 rooms to get stuck in. to get lost in. >> in most haunted houses you get this cramped kind of feeling. there are hidden scares all over the place. it's going to get people for sure. >> your name? jessica? >> reporter: they've got training. real actors auditioned to be more than one of the 50 aggressive zombies. >> when i clap my hands, i want you to look up and see me, and i'm your next meal. >> reporter: we had the guts to give it a try. their performance, dead on. from the casting to the making of the characters, this haunt is all about keeping it real. professional makeup artists are

on hand, and the transformation horribly good. the dead brought to life, craving blood, ready for an ultimate fright night. >> we definitely want people to walk out of here, high fiving, but also, you know, saying, geez, that was terrifying. >> reporter: in rockville, news4. >> sorry. if you're having dinner, we apologize. the urban haunted house is not recommended for ages 13 years and younger. or doreen. >> definitely not me. it runs through november 3rd one block from the white flint metro. my idea of the haunted house is i stick my hand in the bowl of spaghetti. that's as scare as i want to get. >> it's supposed to be brains, right? doug, what you up to? >> doreen, my mom did that for me as a kid, too. >> that is scary enough for me. >> that was the best stuff. yeah, for sure. if that didn't get your appetite going, how about this. a great event coming up

tomorrow. the fall bazaar down at the st. peters and paul at the potomac. the weather looking pretty good for that. great early, but afternoon storms from 11:00 to 9:00. it's also there today and sunday. tomorrow the only chance for storms, tonight's great, sunday, great, tomorrow, high around 85 degrees. saints peter and paul on the river road. this is what they brought us. so, you know, if just in case, you know, you're hungry, i just got some stuff here for you. spinach pie, and falafel. you want to get out tomorrow. this is what you'll see early tomorrow when you see jim out hosting the event. 79 degrees the current temperature. a very nice evening. that's exactly what we're going to see throughout the rest of the evening. 77 in gaithersburg.

76 in reston. no rain on the radar now. at least not in our region. as you widen out see where the rain is, back to the west around chicago, in through portions of illinois and indiana, where we're looking at a few stronger storms here. those stronger storms will try to make their way in tomorrow afternoon. i'm not too worried about them, though. nats game, no problem at all. a few clouds. just perfect sunset right around 7:00 tonight. it will be on the dark side, but 75 degrees, looking great. go nats. tonight, temperatures down to 58 in gaithersburg, 62 in fredericksburg. and 64 in the d.c. area. tomorrow, we get into summer once again. highs in the mid to upper 80s. 86 in washington. 88 in culpepper. a chance of thunderstorms late in the day, between, say, 4:00 and 7:00. some of those could be strong. but i'm not anticipating a lot of severe weather. that's the good news here. 86 on your saturday.

70 on sunday. i mentioned 30s. some of you on monday morning could see temperatures in the upper 30s. most of us will be in the 40s in the d.c. area. it will be very cool to start off next week. but doreen, we're ready for it. >> okay. don't postpone any outdoor activities tomorrow. thanks, doug. today is national p.o.w./m.i.a. recognition day, when we remember the heroes still missing from america's wars, and their families who are left with so many questions. on the national mall today, a new kiosk was dedicated to make sure those heroes are not forgotten. derrick ward was there. >> reporter: some people file past this kiosk without notice, or with just a passing glance. but to some people, this is like a guard post, an eternal watch station. >> this represents us, the p.o.w./m.i.a. issue for us on a 365-day, every single hour of the year -- it represents the families, the people who are missing. >> we provide a service to the

veterans that come through here like the honor flag guys that come through here. >> reporter: patches and insignia recall a time and place that some try to forget and others can't help but remember. >> we see the world war ii guys come by here, tears start rolling by their face when they see the pins and honor flights people escorting them. we'll always buy them a pin or something to remember the days when they served. >> reporter: the kiosk stands for so much that it just had to be rebuilt when it fell back in 2010, when a fire started amid efforts to keep the working here warm in the winter. today appropriately on national p.o.w./m.i.a. recognition day, the new kiosk was dedicated. it's dwarfed by more familiar landmarks, but those who built it are as proud as any craftsman who built our monuments. >> a lot of emotion involved. just jumped right on it. wanted to take care of these guys. >> reporter: emotion must co-exist with regulation. this is part of the monumental core. >> the height of it, the slope of the roof, the small door on

the side. there are restrictions from park service of course. >> reporter: but this is a working tribute to some 83,000 p.o.w.s and m.i.a.s who never made it back from battle, from world war ii to the gulf conflict. like rolling thunder, it stands so we don't forget. >> to be in front of these beautiful monuments, this is really the beacon of american freedom. >> you couldn't see it from the video, but the new kiosk is solar powered and the folks there stress that those panels are american-made by a company in oregon called solar world. so not only is the new kiosk green, but it's red, white and blue as well. >> all right. derrick ward, thank you. up next tonight at 5:00, how a labor dispute between american airlines pilots affect

there is something in the air, and it's causing a headache for some travelers. thousands of passengers using american airlines over the past week have been experiencing some maddening delays. nbc's tom costello reports a union at odds with the carrier says don't blame them. >> reporter: the pilots who fly for american deny there is any organized effort to slow down the airline, but delays have skyrocketed in the past week, creating headaches for travelers. >> very frustrating. i'm getting married. and they're not making it pleasant for me. >> i'm more concerned about my trip saturday to rome. that's got me a little freaked out. >> reporter: the numbers are telling. last september 82% of americans flights were on time. this september, only 61% are on time. and even worse on-time numbers this week, from 45% on time sunday to 37% monday, 45 pds

tuesday, 54 pds wednesday, and more delays yesterday. american has already canceled 300 flights and plans to cut more through october. going online to apologize to its customers. >> we understand how irritating and unfortunate this is in interrupting or delaying your travel plans. we appreciate their patience. and hope for their understanding. >> reporter: but scott mccartney who writes the "wall street journal's" middle seat column is suggesting passengers should book away from american. >> the american operation right now just isn't reliable. there have been too many late flights, too many missed connections, too many canceled flights, too many people left stranded. >> reporter: there's something else that could mean bad news for passengers. with american airlines in bankruptcy, u.s. airways is aggressively pushing for a merger to take on united and delta. >> by putting these two together, you create a third airline that compete against the two larger carriers. that's good for consumers. that's good for the employees of both companies.

>> reporter: an american merger with u.s. airways would follow other mergers in recent years as the country lost some of the oldest carriers. continental merged with united to become the world's biggest airline. northwest with delta. air tran with northwest. it's possible say experts that sticker prices could rise again. u.s. airways denies a merger would mean higher prices but says it would bring more choices to add pressure on american airlines to merge, u.s. airways is offering sweeter labor deals for unions. right now, at 6:00 tonight, a scare in the air for ann romney. right now, mitt romney's surprise tax returns release. a bus driver charged in a deadly accident that happened while students were onboard. the entire city has nat-itude. getting a ticket wasn't easy for the play-offs.